Complications are a constant risk with wounds that have not fully healed and remain open. Although most wounds heal quickly without treatment, some types of wounds resist healing. Wounds which cover large surface areas also remain open for extended periods of time. Consequently, it would be advantageous to accelerate the wound healing process. However, present methods of promoting wound healing are inadequate.
Full and partial thickness burns are an example of a wound type which often covers large surface areas and therefore requires prolonged periods of time to heal. As a result, life-threatening complications such as infection and loss of bodily fluids often arise. In addition, healing in burns is often disorderly, resulting in scarring and disfigurement. In some cases wound contraction due to excessive collagen deposition results in reduced mobility of muscles in the vicinity of the wound. Therefore, there is a continued need to accelerate the rate of healing of the burns and to promote healing processes that result in more desirable cosmetic outcomes and less wound contraction and scarring.
Severe burns which cover large areas are often treated by skin autografts taken from undamaged areas of the patient's body. However, skin grafts suffer from low take rates and therefore often provide only short-term coverage of burns. Consequently, there is also a need for new methods which improve the acceptance rate of skin autografts.
Dermal ulcers are an example of wounds that resist healing. Consequently, dermal ulcers often become chronic wounds. For example, one in seven individuals with diabetes develop dermal ulcers on their extremities, which are susceptible to infection. Individuals with infected diabetic ulcers often require hospitalization, intensive services, expensive antibiotics, and, in some cases, amputation. Dermal ulcers, such as those resulting from venous disease (venous stasis ulcers), excessive pressure (decubitus ulcers) and arterial ulcers also resist healing. The current treatments are limited to keeping the wound protected, free of infection and, in some cases, to restore blood flow by vascular surgery. Therefore, there is also a need to provide methods which accelerate the rate of the healing of chronic dermal skin ulcers before the onset of infection and without the need for expensive and invasive treatments such as surgery.